Traffic warning and directing signal



y 28, 1953 R. JfPETERsoN 2,646,638

- TRAFFIC WARNING AND DIRECTING SIGNAL Filed Oct. 6, 1949 I BQEFLEX Renee-nus MATERlAl.

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/3{enzx Renae-nus v v M AT ERIAL- Jhvem5or- 14550772 gas Patented July 28, 1953 TRAFFIC WARNING AND DIRECTING SIGNAL Robert J. Peterson, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to 'Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company,

St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application October 6, 1949, Serial No. 119,793

2 Claims. (01. 40 -125) which supports the signaling facilities, which is freely rockable and. tiltable so that it will adapt itself to high winds and will also continually right and erect itself if accidentally struck by the wheels of a passing vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a warning signal of the type referred to wherein the stated base serves to support a standard or column, said column having its exterior surfaces coated with an appropriate reflecting material, and preferably a reflex-reflective material as hereinafter described. The standard is hollow for lightness in weight and has a readily applicable and removable closing cap or head at its top.

Another object of the invention is to provide a signal of the aforementioned construction which,

if desired, may utilize a long eye-bolt as an assembling element, the eyebeing arranged above the head or cap to serve as a finger-piece and to enable users to conveniently carry the signal without subjecting the reflecting column to finger marks.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide an alternative type of cap or head for the column which may be provided with a warning flag, whereby to adapt the structure for both day and night signaling purposes.

Other objectives and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, where in like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a traflic directing and warning signal constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing one embodiment thereof;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a modifled type of standard or column susceptible of substitution for the one shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a central vertical sectional and elevational View which may be visualized as taken approximately on the plane of the vertical line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section on the line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a'perspective view of a modified flagequipped cap for the standard; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a further modification in the construction of the stated cap.

Referring now to the drawings by reference numerals and accompanying lead lines and particularly to Figures 1, 3 and l, the base 8 is of a spheroidal or mushroom form and is in the nature of a solid weight and has a part-spherical rocking surface 9 and a rounded top surface l0. At the center of the top is a boss or riser I l. At the center of the riser is a socket I2 which is preferably screw-threaded.

The upright, standard or column, as it is variously referred to, is denoted by the numeral l3 and is an open-ended tube of appropriate cross section and height. The lower open end rests upon the top l0 and surrounds and is held partly in place by the riser II, as shown in Figure 3. The upper end is closed by a concave-convex cap or head M which is centrally apertured to accommodate the long shank 15 of the eye-bolt. The shank passes through the cap and downwardly through the central portion of the column and is screw-threaded at ['8 and screwed into the socket l2. The upper eye-equipped end ll protrudes above the convex side of the cap. Here it serves as a convenient finger-grip. It will be noted that the diameter of the cap is slightly greater than thediameter of the tubular standard so that it overhangs the upper end of the standard. In practice, the exterior surface of the column or standard is covered or coated with a suitable reflecting material. As a coating or covering for the column i3, I prefer to employ reflex-light-refiector material of the classin which a light-returning layer of small transparent spheres is associated with light-reflecting means underlying the spheres in optical connection with the back portions thereof. Such material may be readily adhered to the column. In such reflectors a beam of light incident on the front of the sphere layer is refracted and reflected so that a brilliant cone of light is selectively returned toward the light source, even though the incident beam strikes at an angle. Thus by employing reflex-reflecting material on my improved trafiic warning markers, greater visibility at night to the occupants of an approaching vehicle, can be obtained then by employing ordinary reflective material such as specular or semi-specular materials, because less of the reflective light is dissipated outside of the field of view, the reflected light being concentrated in a narrow cone which returns towards the headlights of the vehicle. Reflex-reflecting material suitable as a coating for the standard I3 is described and claimed in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,407,608, 2,403,752, 2,379,741, 2,326,634, 2,383,884 and 2,354,018, and accordingly need not be described in detail herein. I prefer that the reflex-reflecting material have a red appearance, as may be obtained by employing a suitable red dye or pigment in the binder for the small spheres or in the top coating. Other suitable reflective covering for the standards 13 may comprise reflector buttons or a semispecular metallic flake paint, but such coverings will not stand out in the light from approaching vehicles at night with the same intensity as the preferred reflex-reflecting material.

It will be evident that the signal described is portable, is self-standing, self-righting and one in which users will find their needs fully con tained and available. Obviously, the signal so far detailed is adaptable for night use wherein headlights reflecting on the reflector standard will serve to spot the signal and give the driver the desired warning.

In certain instances instead of using a long eye-bolt, a cap of the type shown at it in Figure 6 may be employed and this may be suitably sealed to the upper open end of the standard. It is provided with a short-stem eye 19 serving as a holder or grip.

In Figure 5, I show a further type of closing cap and this is denoted by the numeral 26 and is centrally provided with a stair 2| carrying one or more warning flags 22. This cap may be substituted for the one shown in Figures 1 and 3 so that the signal will be satisfactorily usable both day and night.

I also contemplate using tubular standards of different shapes and cross-sections. For example, instead of using a cylindrical standard as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, I may substitute the frusto-conical type 23 shown in Figure 2. What is more, it is within the purview of the invention to use a standard which is polygonal in cross-section. In any event, the standards will be hollow and coated With appropirate reflecting material.

The parts employed in the construction are reflecting media depending on particularized services designed. In addition, the signal, compared to so-called pot burner types, commonly used, insures more efiective results and stands out vividly during heavy wind and rainstorm. It is clean-handling at all times and can be used anywhere, regardless of the emergency met.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawings. Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in the shape, size and arrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A portable roadside-type traffic directing and warning signal comprising a mushroom-shaped weight, a tubular upright resting at its lower end on said weight, said upright being covered on its exterior surface with reflex-reflecting material, a head resting on and closing the open top of said upright, and an eye-bolt having its eye equipped end above said head and its shank passing through said head and upright and screwed into a socket provided therefor in said weight.

2. A portable roadside-type traific signal comprising a base in the form of a self-righting weight having a riser at the center of its top and a screw-threaded socket, an open ended tubular standard resting at one end on said weight and surrounding and held in place by said riser, reflex-reflecting material covering the exterior of said standard, a convexed lidding member resting on and closing the upper end of said standard, and a relatively long-shanked eye-bolt having its shank passing through said lidding member with its threaded end screwed into said socket and its eye end situated above said member.

ROBERT J. PETERSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,228,615 Stafford June 5, 1917 1,402,465 Wood Jan. 3, 1922 1,939,968 Frei Dec. 19, 1933 2,050,579 Murray Aug. 11, 1936 2,141,067 Miller Dec. 20, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 48,496 Denmark Mar. 12, 1934 ll Tail 

